A heat-moisture exchanger attached to a nebulization device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,476. This device has a rotatable second housing connected to a first housing. The first housing has at least two chambers enclosing an absorbent material and providing a passageway for an aerosol. The second housing encloses the nebulizer. Valves control the primary gas flow through a passageway to bypass the absorbent material. This device maintains the continuity of a closed ventilator circuit when administering an aerosolized medication to prevent interruption of ventilation to a patient. However, the device is complex and expensive to produce. A simpler device is needed to maintain the continuity of a closed ventilator circuit when administering an aerosolized medication to a patient connected to a ventilation system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,946 described a simplified way of maintaining the continuity of a closed ventilator circuit with two separate heat-moisture exchange materials. What is needed is a less expensive and easier way of achieving the same result.